Loyal
by Jaegershark
Summary: The True Cross' prince developed strong friendship with a youthful farmer after an incident. Obviously friendships don't last forever, especially after going through the gates of the end of your life, but one or the other had each other in their hearts. That's called loyalty. AU, Rated T for violence. Ongoing.
1. Meeting

Title: **Loyal**

Category: Anime/Manga » Blue Exorcist/青の祓魔師

Author: Jaegershark

Language: English, Rating: Rated: T

Genre: Adventure/Friendship

Published: 04-08-2014 (English Order)

Words: 3,923

* * *

Life as farmer isn't so bad if you actually consider it carefully. It's like watering flowers and petting dogs, and once you get used to it you can just run around the field endlessly, pulling out weed here and there, spraying water on to the growing vegetables, harvest the crop, pick out snails, round up the sheep, ride a horse, milk the cow, clean the pen, etc. It's very easy when you get used to it, no hardships as long as there's equal rain and sun. It also counts as an exercise. It could be fun if your mood are not sour.

Okumura Rin, worked in these fields of grass, crops and animals, living in a small wooden cottage.

He lived alone with a black cat, Kuro. Fifteen years of age, and he had a cheerful manner, and almost always smiled even at the worst of times. He had a lot of energy to spare since he ran around the field and the farm, and still had a bit more left to store. You'd expect a big bloke of a man, with uselessly large muscles and spend the night drinking - Rin was different. He was tall but incredibly thin you could see his rib cages poking out of his skin (which you will see a lot in hot summer days since he'd sprint around topless) and everyone wondered how he could do all this work all on his own. His black hair would always be unkempt but clean, which was always a wonder because his clothes were always caked in dry mud. His skin was toned due to the harsh sun and he was incredibly kind. Due to the lack of education he wasn't the brightest crayon in the box and he couldn't read nor write, but he was a wonderful person. If he wasn't out to take care of the crops or tend to the animals, he would play with the children in the village or craft wooden figures in his shed which he would always put around the village for decoration purposes or give it to the children. Really, it was impossible for anyone to even dislike him. They smiled when he came into view - especially when they could see into those big ocean eyes of his.

He lived in the borders of the small village in a tiny wooden cottage. Since he was a farmer he grew flowers to decorate his home, and there were always butterflies or little girls tugging at his hand asking if they could pick their own bundle of flowers. There was a dead oak tree just next to his house, and he had decorated it with various wood figures, like little squirells hanging here and there or small fairy elves sitting, dangling their legs. Rin had carved a two-seat swing roped by the biggest branch of the oak tree and he or the children would sit there alone or in twos or threes, taking turns on the swing.

Inside his cottage was... simple, but beautiful at the same time. The furnitures were hand made and wooden, sharp and elegantly curved and payterned at the same time. He painted the walls white, and there were lots and lots of little wooden figures dangling from the ceiling or on the tables. His cottage was always clean and dusted, and it had the feeling of warmth, of home. It's like you belonged there. The air had a musky scent of a flower or a fruit, Rin changed it every month or so. Everything was kept in place.

His fields were always rich in colour. If not pink, white and green with turnips it would be vibrant orange with carrots, purple with eggplants, red with strawberries and tomatoes, green with cabbages or just simply a mix of them all. Sometimes, rarely in a whole year, which he only done once or twice, he would - instead of growing fruits and vegetables, he would plant flowers. The smell could be faintly whiffed from miles away, and it was a beautiful, heavenly sight. Red with poppies and roses, white with daisies and yet more roses, yellow with sunflowers, blue with a shade of purple from lavenders and lots, lots more of beautiful scented flowers. One season he had filled it with orchids. Pure, fragranted colourful orchids. And in the corner of the field would be a special spot for golden orchids, so beautiful you could even be mistaken it for a gold being carved into a flower. But whatever he planted, his fields was like heaven's garden.

His farm was not least in his posession too. He only had a few animals, one horse, a few cows and sheep, but he took care of them delicately like he would treat humans. He cleaned their pens and fed them good food. Sometimes in one of his hyper modes Rin would put flower crowns on their heads and sang a strange song consisting of animal noises whilst the children giggled and the adults laughed shaking their heads. He named each and all of them and remembered them all. He gained milk and wool from them.

From all these vegetables, fruits, flowers - and sometimes wooden carvings, in the end of every season except winter he would go down to the village with a cart of his hard-worked products behind him with his faithful cat and sold everything in the market, and at the end of those days he would come home with his cart empty and with his pocket full of earnings. But he never spend them on himself, not really, anyways. Three-quarters of them he spent on buying seeds, fertilizers an equipment, eigth for buying presents for the children in Christmas and the other eigth stored away to save up.

His village was only one out of the hundred villages in the Kingdom of True Cross. His village is the one where the castle stood high and tall, and of course, where the monarchs lived. The king is under reign of Shiro. He was a kind, bright king - maybe a little too keen on alcohol and women, but his people loved him anyway. He treated them very fair and square, and he wasn't headstrong and he listened to his people. He never committed war unless very necessary and he thought twice before saying or doing something. Instead of being high and posh he mingled himself with the crowd in the same clothing, playing with the children.

His wife had died in an accident a few years ago, and the only one he had was his son and heir to the throne. In some ways the villagers looked, the kind young farmer had looked like him, but at the same time so different. Yukio; had black hair, black as black, with turqoise eyes that would light up as soon as he would feel something strong bubbling up inside him. He was paler than paper and thin like a pin. He was also a cold person, always keeping to himself and shying away from the outside people of his castle. He wasn't a swot and he was very strict-mannered and had respect, but he just avoided social interaction. He rarely said anything. People never seen him smile - let alone laugh. Rarely a scoff, but if he did let out a laugh it wasn't with the smiling that came with the package.

This is a story how of a royal blood developed strong friendship for a commoner with no explanations of how he did and how it would work out.

By an accident.

* * *

The little girl tugged at his elbow, jumping up and down. When the young farmer looked at her, she gave him her best smile, fidgeting with her hands.

"Mister!" she giggled. "Umm, c-can I pick those pretty roses from those pots? I really like them..."

"Of course." he smiled, "You have to want for me to pick them for you, though. The thorns are quite sharp and I don't want your hurting your hand. Let me finish watering the field first, is that alright?"

"Okay!"

This season Rin had planted berries. Strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, all that lot in one field. They fruits were green and not yet edible, however. Rin ran along each row, sprinkling water to each plant with quite big of a water can. There were many many rows but he never stopped running, and when he reached the last row he gasped for his breath, laughing.

"That took very long, I'm so sorry." Rin chuckled. "Come on, I'll pick the flowers for you."

He walked off from the field with the little girl to his small cottage to where he planted the roses in wooden pots. The girl pointed to which ones she liked and Rin cut them off for her, barehanded although the thorns were scratching his hand and his fingers. Once or twice the girl squeaked when she thought the thorns had dug into his skin, but he revealed his hands that they were only scratched, unharmed.

"Mister, aren't you scared that the thorns will hurt you?"

"No, of course not." Rin smiled. "It's the same way with our lives, see. Our thoughts and dreams are like roses. If you're to scared to pick them, then... what are you going to be?"

He bundled the roses together, wrapping around the stems with paper, tying them up with a piece of string. "Roses are beautiful. But they're very mean flowers as they grow thorns to prevent people from picking them. And if you're scared to pick them, they'll never get picked, you know?"

He inhaled the roses, giving the bundle to the little girl. "What's your name?"

"Yui." she giggled. Rin let out a small laugh, ruffling her hair.

"Make good use of your roses, and be careful with the thorns."

"Yes mister!"

"Now run along home, you little spitfire. It's going to rain soon."

"Oh! Yes, I should... Oh, and mister?"

"Yes?"

"Uh, thank-"

"No need." he smiled kindly. "Off you go, sweetheart."

The girl stared at him for a while, nodding. Then she ran down to the village, waving goodbye with her bundle of roses. When she was out of sight, the clouds started to darken and raindrops began trickling down. The farmer sighed, going into his cottage.

* * *

The black cat greeted him, purring while pawing on his leg. Rin took off his boots and put them neatly to the side, picking up the cat gently to hold him by his chest. The cat mewed, nuzzling in to the warmth of his arms. The young farmer chuckled, going up the steep stairs of his cottage to his bedroom. He sat down and set the cat in his lap.

It was one of these days where you lay back in the chair and gaze out of the window while rain heavily poured outside, with lightning rolling across the clouds and thunder suddenly illuminating your vision, and you sipping a small mug of your own prefered treat. But instead of drinking Rin had a block of wood in his hands and a small carving knife, and he sat behind a desk, hands quirkily turning and curving to make the little details of the figure. He didn't set his mind on it, his hand just flawlessly moved on the piece of wood in superhuman speed. He dropped the knife when there was a loud crash on the door, the sleeping cat stirring at the sudden noise. Rin carefully set down the cat and gracefully plodded down from the stairs, peeking from the window, but he couldn't see anything.

He opened the door and was startled by the heavy weight that pushed the door inwards. Previously slumped to the door and now lying on the floor, whoever that was had been throughly soaked and drenched, shivering. His eyes were wide open and his ankle a very peculiar shape. There were cuts and bruises along his skin and Rin assumed that he ran here to seek for help because there was a man running towards him.

"Oi, you!"

Rin almost jumped back. The wounded figure looked at him with pleading eyes.

"_Please_..." he croaked, unable to finish his sentence as his mind fogged. Rin looked at him and at the man, confused of what to do next because he never faced such situation before, especially with the rain pounding like this.

"Give me that boy." the man grunted. "He's been ruinin' my life! Made all my hardwork into nothing! Now I can't sell anything, I'll sell his head to replace that money!"

"W-whoa, sir, but that is very... inhuman."

"Tch." the man scoffed. "Just give me the boy or I'll sell him along with your head, too."

"W-wait! You know there's another alternative!"

"No, of course not!" the man laughed. Then he gasped as Rin suddenly came into view with a glass jar of all his savings he had all his life.

"Take it, then." he said softly. "I don't know about you, but dishonest money is far more human than cutting people's heads off and selling them, good sir. Please, take it and leave. I don't want any more troubles."

The man laughed, snatching the jar. Then he walked off with the large sum of money. But that wasn't what was in Rin's mind, right now it was about the wounded figure. He closed the door to prevent any more rain water to flood into his house. He slowly got on to his knees and cradled his head, instantly recognizing his facial features.

"Oh!"

"No, don't be." the prince said hoarsely. "No. No."

"I'm- I-"

"No." the prince breathed out, closing his eyes. "No."

When he stopped saying anything more, Rin held two fingers against his neck. There was still a pulse, he was just unconcious.

Still wet from the rain, he carried him upstairs with care as so not to hit his head on the walls. He laid him down on his small bed, looking at the trails of water he left behind. It didn't really matter - he'd clean it up later, anyways.

He stripped him off of all of his clothes, wincing at the cuts and the bruises, not counting the twisted legs because he panicked when he saw the odd colour it had - an ugly black and reddish purple, and it was swelling. He knew how to heal minor wounds since he treated himself so since he was a child, but how about a weird leg? Does he twist it around? Saw it off? Bandage it? He was too scared to do anything.

In the end he soaked it with vinegar and wrapped it around with cloth. He gently dabbed at the bruises and the cuts with cold water, wipping dirt and blood off. Then for the deeper cuts he wrapped cloth around them. After he had finsihed treating his wounds, he dried his body, settling his head comfotable on a pillow and putting a blanket over him.

Rin vigorously dried his clothes by shaking them off the water. When they were dry enough (still damp), he found himself a needle and a colour-matching thread to sew his torn clothes with tiny but strong stitches, and hung them along the banister of the stairs. Then he mopped the floor off the dirty rain water, and fell asleep on a chair upstairs beside the bed.

* * *

The prince woke up with a black cat sleeping on his chest.

Ah...

He stroked the cat softly, the feline letting out a soft purr, nuzzling into his hand with its wet nose. He chuckled, sitting up straight, groaning from the pain coming from his leg. He looked around, and the memory flooded to him. He held his forehead, his sight swimming before focusing again. On the bedside table he found a small little wooden figure carved to... look like him. He picked it up, curious to look at it, before setting it down again.

_Where was that boy?_

"Hey, cat..."

Kuro stretched, doing a cat-yawn. Then he licked his paw, staring at the prince intently.

"Where is your owner?"

The cat blinked. Then, as if motioning follow him, he stepped down the bed, lazily walking towards the stairs.

The prince set his legs down, looking at his body. He found that he had been treated well, and the twisted ankle felt much better than the last time he had twisted it, but still painful to walk with. He leaned on the wall with support, finding his clothes folded neatly near the wooden figure he found, putting them on briskly. Then, as carefully as he could, hopped down the stairs, and of course he slipped and tumbled down in a heap all the way to the bottom, the cat mewling.

"Oh! I'm so, _so_ sorry! I should've stayed with you upstairs!"

Strong, firm hands lifted him and he was suddenly on a chair, his ankle treated again, soaked in vinegar, wrapped around with new cloth.

The turquoise eyes fell on the young farmer. He looked like a mere boy, but it seemed like he lived here alone all by himself with a cat. And previously in the night before he had seen a field with rows of fruits, although it was just a glimpse and he had not seen anything properly through the rain. He remembered seeing flowers and a pen of animals, too. Was the boy an employer or had he worked by himself?

But he found him incredibly... weird. His little traits of squeaking in panic and cleaning everything up after doing something was noticeable. He had a scent of flowers around him and he always had this smile on his face. The prince was irked, however, due to his coldness. How could a person be possibly so cheerful and energetic when he had lots to do around the place? Look, he's practically dancing his was through the whole house! Is that even normal!?

"Sorry."

"Don't say that."

"Sorry." Rin said, apologizing.

"Do _not_, I repeat, say that."

"S- yes..."

He put the cloth in place and put his equipment away afterwards.

"Mind if you tell me what happened yesterday, sir?" Rin asked, busying himself by juggling ingredients in the kitchen. Yukio forced out the answer from his throat, being not used to talking to people.

"Accidentally ruined his crops. Didn't know I was horse-riding in his field." he grunted. "Chased me off then. Fell off my horse and twisted my ankle, Limped here." he paused. Then he remembered what the boy did to save him. But- how could the boy be so... kind? He could've given himself to the man if he wanted! He cleared his throat, not sure of what to do. "Thank-"

"Don't be." Rin laughed. "I hate hearing that word directed to me."

"Hate?"

"Even despise isn't enough to suffice, sir. I just do what I had to do."

"But then, still..."

"It was nothing. I could save up any day, you know?" Rin chuckled. He came back in the room with two plates and wooden utensils.

This left Yukio utterly confused. He did what he had to do? He never knew this guy but he knew for sure the money was something that his future depended on but he just gave it away like it was nothing at all. Why?

"I don't know what you eat back in the castle, sir." he sighed. "I'm sorry if it tastes horrible much to your liking."

He put the fork into one of the meat in the plate, shoving it down into his system. His eyes widened, almost spitting it out in shock, choking himself in the process. Rin squeaked in panic, automatically hurrying over to him. But to his surpirse, the prince actually looked dazed.

"How the hell did you make this taste so good!?"

* * *

Due to his ankle he couldn't walk around that much, so he sat on the swing that was established to the dead oak tree. All day he had been watching the farmer run around his fields doing gardening-whatsit, but it was fascinating to see someone very thin and scrawny could do all the dirty work within a space of few hours. Children had come around the fields or the tree and squeaked at the sight of the prince, but Yukio only sighed. He never truly liked royalty because he gained respect because of royalty itself - not befause of what he was.

Yukio hadn't decided whether he liked the farmer or not. Half of him thought that Rin was very kind, caring, and - generous? He gave the flowers to these children and had given himself a wooden figure that looked like him. But in the other hand, he hated his overly-cheerful manner and he skipped among the fields like a complete utter hooligan, and his laugh was irking to his ears. He was amazed at the same time too. Rin's energy was certainly superhuman and none other like the farmers he seen around the village. He never seen one like this. Plus, the farmer was fifteen, and lived all alone by himself.

How?

Oh look, he's _dancing_ with his cow.

"Is your owner always like this, cat?" the prince talked to the black feline Rin took as a pet. As if to answer, the cat mewed.

"He's very strange, no?"

He mewed again, licking his paws, scratching his ears.

"What made your owner like this?"

The cat looked dazed for a moment, horror seeming to pass by its green eyes. Then he mewed again, stretching.

"Was it something bad?"

Yukio began to feel a little weird himself. Why did it feel so natural to talk to some cat-mutt? But the cat mewed again. Obviously Yukio didn't understand what he was saying, so instead of embarassing himself more, he kept himself quiet.

"Hey, excuse me...?"

A little girl tugged at his clothes. Yukio looked at her with tired eyes.

"Hm?"

"Have you seen mister anywhere? I didn't see him in the field today."

"Uh, mister? You mean, Rin?"

"Uhuh!"

"He should be out in the horse pen... I think."

"Thank you! Heeeeey, mister!"

The girl ran off to the direction of where Yukio thought the pen was. Sure enough, moments later she came back with Rin, bouncing up and down as she skipped.

"Which one?"

"The orchids, mister! The red purpley ones!" she giggled. Rin laughed, picking the orchids by the stem for her, the flowers located near the swing in painted wooden pots.

"Did your father like the roses?"

"Yes, mister! He said it smelled very nice and that you are a wonderful gardener!"

Yukio could easily see his cheeks burning red as he was given the compliment. He scratched his head and grinned sheepishly, telling her that it was merely nothing but a clump of flowers. But she insisted, and he got even redder (if possible).

When the little girl left Rin shook his head, laughing, still a faint red in his face.

"Regular comer?"

"Yes, she gives the flowers to her father. I'm not quite sure why, however." Rin sighed. Then something came up in his head. But before he could say anything out of his mouth he could hear the harsh hoofsteps of horses. He looked behind him and there were many knights coming into his direction, swords raised. Rin looked calm but Yukio could see it through his eyes - shock, fear, confusion. As an outskirt resident he never had seen armored people with dangerous blades. And the thing is, they were all pointed and directed at him.

"Hold it!"

* * *

**I watched too much Merlin so I guess that would explain the AU hahaha. Also some of the words are too modern for an old AU, nvm. Also I changed the personalities a bit. Just heads up that Yukio does not wear glasses due to the old AU so he'll look molier than ever.**

**Stay tuned for the next chapter! But obviously it will only come out when you give reviews, hahaha. No, seriously. Give me those cupcake reviews.**

**- ****Jaegershark**


	2. Working

**Obviously they'll never catch me kidnapping Rin in my basement.**

**Teehee, of course not.**

* * *

_**Previous;**  
_

_"Did your father like the roses?"_

_"Yes, mister! He said it smelled very nice and that you are a wonderful gardener!"_

_Yukio could easily see his cheeks burning red as he was given the compliment. He scratched his head and grinned sheepishly, telling her that it was merely nothing but a clump of flowers. But she insisted, and he got even redder (if possible)._

_When the little girl left Rin shook his head, laughing, still a faint red in his face._

_"Regular comer?"_

_"Yes, she gives the flowers to her father. I'm not quite sure why, however." Rin sighed. Then something came up in his head. But before he could say anything out of his mouth he could hear the harsh hoofsteps of horses. He looked behind him and there were many knights coming into his direction, swords raised. Rin looked calm but Yukio could see it through his eyes - shock, fear, confusion. As an outskirt resident he never had seen armored people with dangerous blades. And the thing is, they were all pointed and directed at him._

_"Hold it!"_

* * *

Rin stood as still as a stone, and he looked quite unsure of what to do. He fidgeted his with his hands, frowning as one of the knights approached him with a threatening look. His eyes gazed at the prince behind the farmer, and looked at Rin again, saliva flying off from his mouth as he spoke.

"What have you done with our Prince?"

"Uh..."

"He's not a threat, don't worry about him." Yukio quickly ran (limped) to his rescue. Rin looked relieved - because whether he said the truth or not, without the orince's help, he won't be able to escape anywhere from the guards.

"He saved me, in fact." the prince added darkly, not liking to lecture his guards due to his mute half. "You prats should be thankful."

There was a mutter of an apology between the knights. Yukio looked at Rin. He knew a 'thank-you' wouldn't work, but what would he do in return to replace these words? The farmer certainly has done quite a lot. It would be quite an unmannerly fashion if he never returned the favor. Then something came up in his mind and his eyes lit up.

"You have a horse?"

"Er, sure... Quite lame however, I'm afraid, sir."

"No, I don't care about the horse." Yukio 'tch''d. "You're coming with us."

The prince had to explain what he wanted to do with the farmer (much to his disliking, he hated long talks). The farmer had gone bright red and hid his face, telling him that it was nothing at all and he only did what he had to do, and he was a commoner - he reminded him - and he should never receive such honour from the King himself, let alone a reward given by him. But the prince had insisted (also much to his disliking), and in the end Rin gave up.

"I'll ride your horse too, if you don't mind." Yukio had added. "My knights are lunatics and they hadn't brought another one for me."

Due to his twisted ankle he won't be riding the horse and the farmer would do so, but his cheeks gone bright crimson - again. He was so easily embarassed and flustered (and again, much to his disliking).

"Does that mean I sit behind you?"

"Rather than sitting in front of metal armour the knights have - yes."

"B-but I-"

"Just do it."

Eventually Rin had ran to the pen to get his only horse (he gave it a name, what was it - Finnian? It was also added to Yukio's disliking). For some unknown reason he had hesitated when he mounted the horse with Yukio. And he was right too, the horse wasn't one of those bulky running four-legged monsters, but it was fast enough to trot with the rest of the knights.

Rin asked many questions during the short journey.

(Much to his disliking).

"What does the castle look like?"

"Well, what do you suppose a castle look like!?"

"Uh... I don't know. A cave?"

"It has a cave, it doesn't look like one."

"What cave?"

"Dungeons. Used for prisons and all that lot.

"What does the king look like?"

"How many knights you have?"

"Far more than what your harvest in your bloody field."

"Do you work at a field?"

"For goodne- No."

"Then do you water plants, plant seeds-"

"No."

"How do you live!?" Rin squeaked.

"Well- live!"

"You don't get food if you don't work in a field!"

"They're served by our servants who got food from people who lived in the fields, idiot."

"What are 'servunts'?"

"Ser'VANT'. They're basically people who serves things."

"Do they work in a field too?"

And the questions crashed at him like waves. Rin certainly wasn't the sharpest tool in the shed, he was foreign to some nouns the prince had mentioned and he was utterly puzzled, asking him what it meant. At the same time he was insistent, Yukio had half-regretted with his decision of taking him to the castle. Because he talks too much! Did he ever get educated?

He thought the only way you could live is by working in a field, your food and money comes from that piece of land. But then Yukio guessed he only knew how to speak and to farm, and then pretty much an idiot at everything else, really.

He grimaced when Rin squeaked at the sight of the castle, letting go of the reigns and waving his arms wildly. His blue eyes had practically glittered like a real ocean. Yukio didn't like his squealing - but he liked his common quirks that does not include rabbit-like sounds.

It turns out that Finnian was never tied to his pen, meaning that the horse could run away anytime (what a loyal horse, staying put). He did not know how to knot the reigns to keep the horses in place, and Yukio (with an annoyed sigh) had to do it for him. The reddish-brown horse seemed content however, tied or not tied. The prince swore he neighed goodbye when the farmer waved at him with a cheery smile.

The knights left them on their own while Yukio limped through the doors, with Rin stopping every several seconds so that he could catch up. But he ran around the place when he saw the hallway. Yukio supposed it looked beautiful, because it was made of white marble and the ceiling was decorated with some complicated chandeliers, lights bouncing off the minerals. And when he saw who was at the end of the hallway, talking to one of the knights, he did his quirk again. He yelped, getting down on his knees and crouching down like a dog, his face deep red.

"Y-Your Highness!" he said with a shaky voice. "I must look like a lunatic!"

The king laughed heartily, shaking his head. "Get up, young one. I'm not very surprised if you do react to things you've never seen before."

"Sorry, sir!" Rin got up immediately, hands to his sides, standing up straight with his chin slightly tilted upwards. Yukio sighed at this, his antics were bothering him quite a lot.

"So I've heard from my good knight that you have taken care of my prince." the king smiled. "Was he cold to you? I'll be sure to knock him some sense if he wasn't!"

Yukio had expected a 'yes' from the farmer. But whether what he said was a lie or not, it shocked him terribly.

"Not at all, sir! In fact, I like him a lot!" he grinned sheepishly.

"Good to hear." The king nodded. He opened his mouth to speak when Yukio limped over and whispered something in his ear. The monarch's eyes widened, before laughing.

"Well, Okumura Rin, isn't it?"

"Yes sir!"

"Tell me, how can I repay your deeds?"

"Oh, nothing, nothing, sir! I just do what I had to do!" Rin smiled.

"Of course not, you have to be rewarded. And the more your refuse, you'll get even more for that."

Rin huffed. Then something came up in his mind.

"This might be a little weird." Rin said, his eyes sparkling. "And a bit too peculiar, but there is something that would suffice."

"What is it?"

"I want to work in a field for you!"

* * *

"Really, mister?" the girl gasped. "You're working for the king? Really?"

"Yes! I got my own field there! And they gave me a cottage to live in!"

"Oh wow! Congratulations, mister!"

"Thank you." Rin smiled, hugging the girl. "I'll move out once my current field is harvested, then I'll begin a new life."

"But then, mister..." The girl looked at him, confused. "What will happen to the house? The tree? The field? The swing? The farm? I mean... you lived here for all your life, haven't you mister? It would all go waste."

"Of course it wouldn't go to waste, Yui." Rin smiled. "Your father and I talked some time ago-"

"Mister! You did not!"

"-and this land will be in your posession once you are old enough."

"Mister!" she cried, sobbing. "Mister! I hate you! I hate you so much, mister!"

She tackled him to the ground, shedding shocked but happy tears. Rin grimaced, since his shirt would get muddy, but he hugged her all the same, ruffling her hair, laughing.

* * *

The end.

Well of course not, that was only the beginning of the end.

At the end of that Spring, Okumura Rin packed away his things and moved to the cottage that was provided by the king, give or take the size, it was pretty much the same. Only needed a little cleaning here and there, and suddenly it seemed like big giant hands had rooted his old cottage and plopped it down here.

The prince couldn't understand why but he had squealed like a little girl when he saw his very own giant row of fields to work on. I mean - come on. There were naughty unpulled weed everywhere, wild pebbles and rocks and the ground was solid and dry. Obviously it was a little bigger than his previous field from what he saw but he never thought he'd make the earth soft and moist and clean and trimmed in no time without help.

And the question is, how?

Even other farmers who worked for the king in much, much smaller fields were much bigger and stronger, and had twenty people taking care of the field and that wasn't even enough. That obviously isn't human.

But nevertheless, who cares anyway? The food tasted much better when he was the one supplying the ingredients.

The prince found himself often gazing down the small cottage just a few hundred yards away from the castle. It was a small white wooden building with flowerpots surrounding it. And once he trespassed the door it smelled like warm honey - and it felt homely, unlike the cold castle room he had. He didn't like the person who lived in there - Okumura Rin was far too contrast to his personality, but he couldn't help but feel... jealous, in a way? He had the ability to just talk so smoothly and couldn't seem to waste his energy and people loved him at first meeting. And when you look at Yukio you know this person's someone you won't get along well without even talking to him.

From birth till now Yukio never had any friends - even ones you only say hello to. Pretty much the closest people he had with him was his feisty servant and his father. His mother wasn't a friend of course, she was his kin, but he guessed that people made firneds because they were born with a knack to do so. And destiny was cruel it decided Yukio could never have any friends so he turned him into this stoic prince who will live coldly ever after.

But wait! Destiny decided to be kind! Some random farmer fell out of the sky and it gave him an opportunity to make a friend! How fantastic!

He doubt it. He ignored the farmer.

Until he noticed the farmer was gazing to the castle window, too.

It was pretty awkward. Rin looked surprised for a while and his expression softened, and he seemed to let out a chuckle before shutting the cottage windows, blowing off the candle.

Yukio frowned. It wasn't like the farmer was on his mind - well okay, he thought about him all day and half the night because the prince had nothing to do but explore the whole of the castle thirty-eight times before going to bed.

He thought about the first day he encountered the farmer. He had hospitalized him and worried about him, without even thinking for the second time. Or was it because of his royalty?! But no, he seemed like he only knew the king because he hardly knew what the castle looked like and what servants were (Yukio snorted). It wasn't everyday you take in a stranger and helped the guy with no hesitation and give all your money away just for someone who you've never even met. And the face he had - he looked so worried.

Why so?

He looked again to see the cottage door open, and a small little girl standing, greeting him. Rin seemed to laugh and ruffle her hair, taking her in his arms and spinning her around like his own sister.

Did Okumura Rin have a family? He lived alone. Were they away, or in a better place?

Ah, perhaps that was why he liked other people. He never wanted to be lonely. He hated loneliness, the darkness, the shadows. He wanted people close to him.

Unlike him, people surrounding him were a burden. Threw them all out of the castle window; "No thanks, I don't want anyone. Bye."

Slam the door.

His eyes fell again on again at the wooden cottage.

* * *

**ew yukio you stare at ppl getoff getoff**

**Also this ain't gay this is just moley-man thinking**

**long time no update ! Hahah**

**- Jaegershark**


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